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SAYAKA SAYAKA 【Lang】[日本語] ： [English] ： [한국] ： [中文] Sayaka was born into a musical family with her father a composer and mother a vocalist, and started playing the violin at the age of 6. She won a prize at the Student Music Concours of Japan ’95 and in 1996, despite having been accepted into the prestigious Toho Gakuen School of Music she left the school only after six months.

While trying to diversify her music style from classical, she found Cuban music, and traveled to Cuba for the first time in 1998. After she returned to Japan, she encountered Lazaro D. Gonzales, a member of the nationally admired Cuban band, Orquesta Aragon, who happened to be visiting Japan, which prompted her to go back to Cuba in 2001.

She returned to Japan with a broad range of experiences including having had a solo concert at the Napoleonic Museum in Havana. In 2004, she was chosen as the first Asian soloist by the globally known keyboardist Yanni for his 2004-2005 tour. On this tour, she performed in over 50 concerts around the world including the Radio City Music Hall in NY, and received enthusiastic reviews from the international media acclaiming her as “the very new violinist!”

In 2009, she made an appearance as a violinist in the movie Gelatin Silver, Love directed by the photography virtuoso, Kazumi Kurigami, and contributed her songs to the movie’s soundtrack. She formed a unit with musicians whom she met through session works, Jun Ohkuchi (Pf), Ryotaro Shibata (Gt), Tetsuo Koizumi (B), and Gen Ogimi (Per) and released her debut album, Palma Habanera in July. In December, she traveled to Cuba with the newly-formed unit “SAYAKA y su Palma Habanera” to perform at the 80th anniversary of Japan-Cuba diplomatic relationship special concert, which became the unit’s successful first concert in Cuba.

The 2nd album, A CUBA, was released in November 2010, and she performed with Shin Nal Sae, the player of Heagum, the Korean traditional instrument, for the Christmas concert hosted by the Embassy of Japan in Seoul, Korea. October 2011 brought her the opportunity to perform again with the Cuban diva, Omara Portuondo, in Yoshiro Hiroishi’s concert.

SAYAKA regards Shizuko Ishii and Lazaro D. Gonzales as her mentors on the violin and Oscar Valdes as such on percussion.


2002 Invited to perform as a member of Sones de Oriente by Eliades Ochoa at the Festival Internacional de la Trova 'Pepe Sanchez (the International “Son” Festival)
2003 Performed with a unit formed by the Grammy-winning Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez and Robby Ameen
2004 Performed with the Cuban diva Omara Portuondo at the Japan-Cuba Cultural Exchange Concert in Cuba.
2009 Performed with Hank Jones at the TOKYO JAZZ FESTIVAL 2009
2010 Performed at the Maraca & The Monterey Latin Jazz All Stars in Cuba
【HP】http://www.sayaka-violin.com/

【Discography】

Palma habanera
/ パルマ・アバネーラ

SAYAKA

ZQBG-1002 / ￥3,000+tax

  • 1　Concierto de Aranjuez / アランフェス
  • 2　Spain / スペイン
  • 3　El Pito / エル・ピト
  • 4　Agua para Plana / アグア・パラ・プラナ
  • 5　Bananeira / バナネイラ
  • 6　Habanera / アバネーラ
  • 7　Danza Ritual del Fuego / 火祭りの踊り
  • 8　Oblivion / 忘却
  • 9　All Blues / オール・ブルース

A CUBA
/ キューバへ

SAYAKA y su Palma Habanera

XQDJ-3001 / ￥3,000+tax

  • 1　A-La-La / ア・ラ・ラ
  • 2　Danza Loca / ダンサ・ロカ
  • 3　La Comparsa / ラ・コンパルサ
  • 4　Obatala / オバタラ
  • 5　Cuba Linda / クーバ・リンダ
  • 6　Mariposa / マリポーサ
  • 7　Caravan / キャラヴァン
  • 8　Bilongo / ビロンゴ
  • 9　AZUL Melodioso / アズル・メロディオーソ

Pa'l Mundo
/ パル・ムンド

SAYAKA y su Palma Habanera

POCS-1064 / ￥2,857+tax

  • 1　Centro Habana / セントロ・ハバナ
  • 2　Cafe, Vino, y Chocolate / カフェ・ビーノ・イ・チョコラーテ
  • 3　Ponte Nuevo / ポンテ・ヌエボ
  • 4　Cravo e Canela / クラボ・エ・カネラ
  • 5　Tirandote Flores / ティランドテ・フローレス
  • 6　 Afro Compas / アフロ・コンパス
  • 7　 Norwegian wood / ノルウェーの森
  • 8　 TODOKE / トドケ
  • 9　 Drume Negurita / ドゥルメ・ネグリータ